Vanilla

Q: A friend told us that if you add vanilla extract to raw eggs, the alcohol in the vanilla "cooks" the eggs and makes them safe to use raw. Have you heard of this? A: When the first warnings about salmonella contamination in raw eggs came out in the late 1980s, ice cream recipes using uncooked eggs were among the first ones that plagued cooks. Making ice cream from raw eggs saved the time of making a cooked custard. Some cooks may have gotten the idea that since vanilla extract in the ice cream mixtures had alcohol, it could somehow rid the eggs of bacterial contamination.

Come join us for a concert. On Saturday, Jan. 25, the Vanilla Bean Cafe, located in Pomfret, will be hosting the twenty-third Annual Emergency Northeast Connecticut Food Bank Benefit. This local tradition is an evening of singing, laughter, hot licks on guitar, fiddle and banjo, wonderful desserts, and beverages ranging from fresh squeezed cappuccino to fine wines. The Vanilla Bean is a great place to shake off the winter blahs, and we have music that will lift your spirits. The show begins at 8 p.m. and admission is $20. Howie Bursen, "the Red Hot Banjo Wizard", who has hosted this event for 23 years will also be joined by John Bailey and Jeff Davis.

Rob Ambrose, quite the colorful guy, said he is quite fond of vanilla ice cream. So, too, he said, are his daughter Grace and son Riley. But does the Huskies' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach love it so much that it has become the signature flavor of the offense he oversees? Many outsiders believe so, but UConn, like any other program, is going to play to its strengths. And its strength last season was its running game, which, at 161.38 yards a game, ranked 49th of 119 schools in Division I-A. By contrast, the passing game (185.

Vanilla Ice turns 30 here Saturday with a vengance. But at the Halloween show he plays for radio station WMRQ that night at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, he'll likely dispense with costumes. In his new incarnation ("He's alternative now," radio ads say) as a hard-edged skate rocker in the tradition of KoRN and Rage Against the Machine, he's putting away the masks of the past. "I'm being as real as I can be," Ice says over the phone from his home in Miami. "There is no hype.

Christmas has always smelled a bit like oranges. And pine. And peppermint. And maybe a touch of vanilla and cedar around the edges. Of all the seasons of the year, we use our noses most during the December holidays. The baking, the decorating and the flowers all contribute to an olfactory celebration as bright as the season itself. (There are even ancillary scents that, while not always pleasant, still remind us of the holidays: Scotch tape, fake snow, fireplace smoke, cork.) With all the guests and family trafficking through the house during December, it's sometimes difficult to make the home a relaxing haven, despite all the familiar smells.

The spot: Steve's Centerbrook Cafe, 78 Main St., Centerbrook 767-1277 The food: Creme brulee The price: $5 The lowdown: Sorry, I love creme brulee. This classic custard dessert has become so commonplace, and often so common-tasting, that I always feel like apologizing when ordering it. But one taste of the vanilla creme brulee at Steve's Centerbrook Cafe and doubt vanishes. This little ramekin is what creme brulee should be. The cool, smooth custard is creamy rich, full of vanilla flavor.

The spot: Ellington Gourmet Ice Cream Factory, 12 Main St., Ellington; 870-9060 The food: Vanilla milkshake The price: $2.75 The lowdown: Richard and Trish Willis of Ellington were tired of driving all the way to Shady Glen in Manchester to get a good ice cream cone or milkshake, so they decided to open an ice- cream shop of their own in town. It was something new for both of them; she is a pharmacist, he's a software designer. Trish apprenticed herself to an ice-cream maker, and soon afterward the couple opened Ellington Gourmet Ice Cream Factory in Ellington Commons in May 1994.

Today, when a cook wants to find numerous variations on a recipe quickly, he or she turns to the Internet. We also search the Web for ideas at times, but we haven't given up our recipe files. Sometimes, flipping through a recipe box brings back as many memories as paging through a scrapbook of old photos. Last week, we came across a recipe for Chocolate Sundae Pudding that Linda's aunt used to make, often as the ending to one of her Sunday night suppers. (One of her Sunday staples was Welsh Rarebit.

BY LEEANNE GRIFFIN, Special to the Courant and The Hartford Courant, June 7, 2012

A word to NoRA Cupcake Company newcomers: Expect the unexpected. They just don't do "ordinary" here. The 5-month-old Middletown cupcake shop presents a daily menu of imaginative indulgences, with passionately creative recipes that almost make red velvet look pedestrian. Think Dreamsicle, Tiramisu, Raspberry Lemonade, Vanilla Chai Latte, Ginger Pear and Key Lime Pie, add a splash of liquor, and you get the picture. Customers have had to get used to the unconventional approach quickly, said managing partner Carrie Carella, who recalled a disappointed patron who'd said she'd driven from the shoreline for a vanilla cupcake with milk chocolate frosting.

Today, when a cook wants to find numerous variations on a recipe quickly, he or she turns to the Internet. We also search the Web for ideas at times, but we haven't given up our recipe files. Sometimes, flipping through a recipe box brings back as many memories as paging through a scrapbook of old photos. Last week, we came across a recipe for Chocolate Sundae Pudding that Linda's aunt used to make, often as the ending to one of her Sunday night suppers. (One of her Sunday staples was Welsh Rarebit.

By ABIGAIL FERRUCCIxcxaferrucci@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, February 2, 2012

For the past two weeks, seniors at the University of Connecticut have been concocting ideas for an ice cream flavor that best represents the Class of 2012: Rocky road? Cookies and cream? Just vanilla? Something topped with blue and white sprinkles? Each year UConn's graduating class leaves its mark, and this year's should be sweet. For the past few weeks, seniors have been submitting entries to UConn's Dairy Bar, creating their dream ice cream flavor using one of eight base flavors — almond, chocolate, coconut, coffee, maple, mint, pistachio or vanilla — then finishing their "Senior Scoop" entry, if desired, with one of 20 crunchy mix-ins and one of five flavor swirls.

Q: A friend told us that if you add vanilla extract to raw eggs, the alcohol in the vanilla "cooks" the eggs and makes them safe to use raw. Have you heard of this? A: When the first warnings about salmonella contamination in raw eggs came out in the late 1980s, ice cream recipes using uncooked eggs were among the first ones that plagued cooks. Making ice cream from raw eggs saved the time of making a cooked custard. Some cooks may have gotten the idea that since vanilla extract in the ice cream mixtures had alcohol, it could somehow rid the eggs of bacterial contamination.

The average supermarket stocks nearly 47,000 different products, according to the Food Marketing Institute. Even so, manufacturers keep introducing new ones to tickle our taste buds. > > If you've got a sweet tooth but are trying to hold down consumption of calories and sugar, check out Sun Crystals, an all-natural sweetener from McNeil Nutritionals made from stevia and pure cane sugar. A packet of Sun Crystals has the sweetness of 2 teaspoons of sugar, but instead of 32 calories, the packet contains just 5. The product also is available in a granulated blend for cooking and baking.

If someone calls you a tough cookie, they may not necessarily be praising your iron will. They may be commenting on your progressive taste in contemporary fragrances. After years of mining lush florals, sweet citrus, Asian exotica and all manner of the fruit and vegetable families, the beauty industry is turning its ever wandering eye to the kitchen. Yes, instead of smelling like a Parisian sophisticate or a Fifth Avenue freewheeler, today's smart scents are tied with apron strings: vanilla, honey, caramel, chocolate, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.

The Vanilla Bean Cafe, a widely known restaurant in quiet Pomfret, plans to open a branch in the proposed Storrs Center, a development next to the University of Connecticut that has been in the planning stages for years. The cafe owners have signed a letter of intent to open a 100-seat restaurant, a significant step toward becoming the first tenant in the $220 million center that would offer a mix of shops, restaurants, housing and entertainment in a village setting. Restaurant owners Barry and Brian Jessurun, who also own another restaurant in Putnam called 85 Main Street, said they have been interested in Storrs Center for years, attracted to the prospect of designing a cafe for a college town.